Jets go Wild in playoff opener

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This article was published 08/04/2018 (2715 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a fiery rivalry between the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild, make no mistake.

It’s a conflict borne not from past playoff battles — these teams have yet to meet in the NHL’s post-season — but from the usual warfare between division foes that inspires mutual respect and deep-seeded acrimony.

There’s also geography. Winnipeg and St. Paul, Minn., are separated by about 750 kilometres of pavement.

Hardly a cross-town rivalry, however, the Wild are situated on the map as the Jets’ nearest NHL neighbours.

The squads also spend a lot of time together. Since the 2011-12 season, the teams have met 26 times — the Jets have posted 14 wins and held a 3-1 edge this season.

Winnipeg supporters head to Xcel Energy Center in droves each time the clubs collide south of the border, while fans of Nino Niederreiter, Zach Parise and Devan Dubnyk regularly head north to don their jerseys with Wild pride at Bell MTS Place.

At ice level, the Central Division teams share a healthy competitive loathing, there’s no shortage of heavy hits between whistles and more than the occasional shoving matches and hockey-glove face washes after stoppages of play.

Things got a bit ugly Nov. 27 in Winnipeg after Jets centre Bryan Little scored to boost the hosts’ lead to 6-2. Right after, frustrated Wild blue-liner Kyle Quincey went after Nikolaj Ehlers to set up a brawl, although order was quickly restored.

Winnipeg eventually prevailed 7-2, one of the team’s three victories over Minnesota during the first eight weeks of the season. The Wild registered a 4-1 home-ice win on Jan. 13 and nearly three months have passed since.

They’ll renew their acquaintances with so much on the line in a best-of-seven series beginning this week.

The Jets (52-20-10, 114 points) finished second in Central Division and possess home-ice advantage against the third-place Wild (45-26-11, 101 points).

Wilds’ playoff experience

Give a significant edge to the Wild in terms of playoff experience.

The Wild went five years without participating in the post-season (2008-13), but are now locked in for the sixth straight year. Yet, they advanced past the opening round only twice (2014, and ’15) during that span before their progress was halted in successive years by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Jets, meanwhile, qualified for the playoffs just once before in their seven-year history in Winnipeg and are still seeking their first win.

Winnipeg squeezed into the party late in 2014 but departed early after being bounced in four straight by the Anaheim Ducks.

The Jets, who finished just below the Nashville Predators in the NHL standings and are one of five teams with more than 50 victories this season, are clear favourites in the series with Minnesota and legitimate contenders to hoist the Stanley Cup.

Winnipeg wrapped up the 82-game campaign as the hottest squad in the league, winning 11 of its last dozen contests, although six of those triumphs were at the expense of non-playoff teams.

Minnesota finished its second straight season with at least 100 points under head coach Bruce Boudreau. After a slow start, the Wild posted a 25-10-8 record since New Year’s Day. The team was 4-2-4 down the stretch, and seven of those were against playoff-bound teams.

Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher basically stood pat at the Feb. 26 trade deadline, moving defenceman Mike Reilly to the Montreal Canadiens for a fifth-round pick in 2019.

Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff was active on deadline day, a clear sign the club was primed to make some noise.

He significantly strengthened things up the middle with the acquisition of centre Paul Stastny from the St. Louis Blues for prospect Erik Foley, a 2018 first-round pick and a conditional four-round selection in 2020.

Winnipeg’s weaponry

Head coach Paul Maurice has an abundance of riches at the centre-ice position, with a quartet of Mark Scheifele, Stastny, Bryan Little and Adam Lowry, and the Wild will have difficultly matching lines with the dangerous units he can toss out.

Scheifele’s trio, with Minnesota-born captain Blake Wheeler on the right side and speedy rookie Kyle Connor on the left, comprises one of the NHL’s most offensively dynamic units.

Wheeler (23G, 68A) had a career year, while Connor fired 31 goals, including three in overtime during the last two weeks of the regular season.

Stastny’s the middle man with 44-goal man Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers (29G), while Lowry leads a fourth-line checking unit of Andrew Copp and Brandon Tanev that’s not only charged with shutting down opponents’ most dangerous lines, but has found its own scoring touch in recent weeks.

The trio of Lowry, Copp and Tanev will likely see plenty of tough matchups in a checking role against Minnesota’s best, including 42-goal scorer Eric Staal.

They say they’re ready for the challenge.

“I thought we had a really good stretch in November, December, and then injuries kind of hit everywhere. I think since we’ve been back together, we’ve been really, really solid. We’ve put up points just about every game that we’ve been together, and obviously our main mantra is shutting down the other team’s top line,” Copp said following Saturday’s game. “It feels like we’re doing a good job of that. Our PK is a lot better than it was last year and obviously, all three of us are a big part of that. We feel really confident with our game right now.”

The third line remains an enigma. Little and Mathieu Perreault are firing blanks, while Joel Armia — as is his trademark — demonstrates completeness as a player one game only to have his competitiveness questioned the next.

On the Winnipeg blue line, Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey form a brilliant duo, while Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot have shown some warts, but are generally more than reliable. Dustin Byfuglien, the only Jet with a Stanley Cup ring, has been paired with Joe Morrow, flipped to Winnipeg from Montreal for a 2018 fourth-round pick at the deadline. Injuries to Dmitry Kulikov and Toby Enstrom have opened the door for Morrow, who played in18 of 20 games since he was traded to the Jets.

It’s still not clear if Enstrom will be ready for Game 1.

Explosive offence and a much stingier defensive scheme notwithstanding, look no further than goalie Connor Hellebuyck to explain the Jets remarkable turnaround this season.

The Michigan product, still just 24, was supposed to be the backup to Steve Mason, but assumed the top job just three games into the season and played his way into the Vezina Trophy conversation as the NHL’s top netminder.

Hellebuyck started 64 games for the Jets winning 44 — a franchise record, which also established a new single-season record for U.S. born goaltenders — to go with just 11 defeats and nine others by way of overtime or shootouts. He finished with six shutouts, a 2.36 goals-against average and .924 save percentage — among the league-leaders in all categories.

Maurice expects Hellebuyck won’t miss a beat as he looks to carry his stellar form into the playoffs.

“He took those lessons last year hard, but got full value from them. All of the things that he went through were difficult. We knew they weren’t permanent, that he would grow with them. But all credit to him, for the summer he needed to do as a pro. Came in, definitely we gave him a better chance night in and night out in front of him. But that’s a big number,” Maurice said.

Hellebuyck said he’s ready for a new challenge.

“Absolutely. I got a good rhythm going, feeling good about my game. I have all season long. I think the guys around us are clicking. I think we’re prepared,” he said, following the 4-1 win over Chicago on Saturday.

The Wild response

This is not a Minnesota team that lives or dies with his ability to keep pucks out, and can crank up its own brand of offence.

A rejuvenated Staal, 33, leads the Minnesota attack, while Parise returned from injury in January and was uncharacteristically quiet for about five weeks before finishing with a flurry, ripping 12 goals in his last 18 games. Jason Zucker recorded a career-high 33 goals playing alongside Staal, while Mikael Granlund led all Wild skaters with 46 assists.

“It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be a great challenge,” said Staal, speaking with reporters Saturday night following Minnesota’s 6-3 victory over the host San Jose Sharks . “They’ve had a great year, they’ve got a good team. We’ve had a good year, we have a great team. So it’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be competitive. Pretty good rival there, north of the border. It’s something we should all be excited about.”

Boudreau’s defensive core, drastically weakened following an injury to talented workhorse Ryan Suter, will have its hands full containing a Winnipeg forward group built on quickness and puck possession. Suter is done for the season after suffering a fractured right ankle just over a week ago that required surgery.

Subtracting from your lineup a guy who averages 26 minutes, 46 seconds of ice time — just four seconds fewer than NHL leader Drew Doughty, a blue-liner with the L.A. Kings — means a heap of responsibility will be placed on Jared Spurgeon, Mathew Dumba and Jonas Brodin.

Spurgeon has been out since mid-March with a hamstring injury but is slated to resume skating today and could be ready for Wednesday’s opener in Winnipeg.

Boudreau said limiting Winnipeg’s scoring opportunities will be a tall order.

“They come at you, nine deep,” the Wild coach said Saturday. “You better be able to play good defense against them. Without giving anything away, you can’t trade chance for chance with them; they’re too good for that. We have our work cut out for us.”

For the Wild to upset the Jets, goalie Devan Dubnyk needs to shine. Few would have envisioned the 31-year-old from Regina as little more than a temporary fix when he was picked up from the Arizona Coyotes more than three years, yet he’s become lynchpin.

He posted a 35-16-7 record, with five shutouts, a 2.53 GAA and .917 save percentage.

***

The final buzzer had just sounded a few moments earlier, bringing an end to the most successful 82-game regular-season in franchise history. And coach Paul Maurice was asked Saturday night to summarize what 52 wins meant to him personally.

“We did our jobs. The staff did our jobs. Fixed the areas, identified the areas that we needed to get better at,” said Maurice after pausing for a few seconds to gather his thoughts.

“You know what, it just means a little more sleep. I slept a little more this year. It’s good,” he added.

Maurice and his troops probably got some quality shut-eye Sunday as they took a day off. But it will be back to business and all hands on deck as they begin to prepare for the biggest challenge of their season. They’ll be looking to keep the momentum going that they built after an early stumble out of the gate.

“I think the leadership in our locker room, from start to finish, had an impact in every single game that we played. Starting with two losses against Canadian teams, and then finding a way to never lose three (in a row) in regulation the rest of the year through injuries. We were emotionally a very consistent team along with our play, and that to me is the mark of a captain and captains that have great support leadership,” said Maurice.

“We know we have very talented young players. There’s a lot of growth that went on with those guys over the course of the year,” he continued. “I go back to we’ve got very good veteran men in that room and they controlled the room for an entire year. They didn’t let the team get too excited when we were running some wins and we certainly didn’t carry our losses with us. I think they did a marvellous job over six and a half months of doing that.”

That veteran leadership – including Dustin Byfuglien, Paul Stastny, Toby Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Bryan Little, Perreault and Matt Hendricks — will no doubt be tasked with helping to guide the Jets over the coming days and perhaps weeks as they navigate waters that are uncharted for the majority of the players.

***

Joel Quenneville has spent the last decade as head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks bench and is well-suited to offer an informed outsider’s perspective on the Jets-Wild series.

His team battled the Jets and Wild five times apiece during the 2017-18 season, with varying degrees of success. Chicago fell 4-1 to Winnipeg on Saturday in the final regular-season game for both teams but had taken three of the previous four meetings. Chicago defeated Minnesota twice in five tries.

Quenneville views it as a classic matchup between an explosive squad and an opponent with just enough tools to defuse it.

“For Minnesota, it’s an opportunity for them, knowing they play tight. Minnesota knows how to play well, they’re tough in the playoffs,” said the long-time NHL bench boss. “Certainly you’ve got to give the Jets a lot of credit for where they’re at and the progression they’ve had each and every year. I thought they made another jump again this year.

“They’ve got a lot of assets in a lot of area. Their lineup is deep — four lines, seven, eight deep on the back end and goaltending took another step forward as well this year. They check a lot of boxes going into the playoffs.”

Veteran Chicago winger Patrick Sharp, who played his final NHL game Saturday and was acknowledged by fans at Bell MTS Place for a fine 14-year career that included three Stanley Cup championships, expects the downtown barn in his birthplace to be jumping this week.

Sharp, 36, wouldn’t divulge who he’s pulling for in a Round 1 showdown but said it would be special to see the Jets get a couple of wins.

“I’m a ‘Hawks fan,” he said, to some laughs from Saturday’s post-game media scrum. “But I was born here in Winnipeg and there’s something about playing in Canada and the Canadian fan base. This building is going to be awesome next week with the ‘Whiteout’ and as loud as they can get to support their team. So, being another Central Division rival you want to see them represent and do well.”

Sharp noted he’s got some connections to a few people on the Jets side.

“I know a couple of the guys over there and have a lot of respect for their team, their coaches. Jamie Kompon (who spent two seasons as an assistant coach in Chicago, 2012-14), I played with Buff (Dustin Byfuglien in the late 2000s) and it’s nice to see Pauly (Paul Stastny) out there. We have some history; he helped me win a truck at the All-Star Game one year (2011), he was feeding me all game long, so it was nice to thank him for that.”

Chicago blue-liner Brent Seabrook lamented not being part of the NHL’s post-season party but suggested the Jets could do some damage.

“It’s sucks. This is the best part of the season, and to not be a part of it — not playing meaningful games for us — is tough,” said Seabrook, who fired the last regular-season goal the Jets allowed. “I think (the Jets) are good. It’s playoff hockey and anything can come out of it. They look like they’re primed and a well-oiled machine, so we’ll see.”

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell

mike.mcIntyre@freepress.mb.ca

@mikemcintyrewpg